R&b - Classic And Current - On Tap For Two Shows

July 26, 1991|By Chris Heim.

Rhythm and blues, classic and modern, is what is on tap in two major, multi-artist shows hitting town this week. It`s hard not to wonder if the younger crew will manage, like the veterans appearing here, to be star attractions some 20 or 30 years down the road. Music today, as anyone over 30 will tell you, is too canned, contrived and cardboard to last, but then that`s what people once said about rock and soul.

The King and Queen of Soul, who headline one date here, have reigned for many decades, and there`s still not a challenger in sight.

James Brown is like a man possessed right now. In the few months since his release from prison, he has seemed determined to make up for lost time and then some. He appeared in a pay-per-view concert, recorded a new album and now has launched a national tour. The performance/homage televised in June probably gave a good idea of what to expect on a smaller scale from the current tour. That`s simply the same sweaty, feverish funk the hardest-working man in show business has been serving up with extreme style his entire career.

Brown`s new album follows much the same pattern. Though his last recordings a few years back toyed with rap and hip-hop, the new album, ``Love Over-Due`` (released earlier this week and coming on the heels of the successful and essential multidisc retrospective, ``Star Time``) goes back to the classic Brown sound-a mix of funky burners and soul ballads, love songs and social commentary.

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, will have to be on her toes to keep up with the King here. In her last show in the area, Franklin gave a rather short, paint-by-numbers performance. Her new album, ``What You See is What You Sweat,`` is almost as silly as its title, a strange attempt (despite a nifty cover of Sly Stone`s ``Everyday People``) to position Franklin now as the Queen of New Jack Swing. Still, Brown should challenge her to take it to another level, as he did when they sang together on ``Gimme Your Love.``

A host of princes, dukes and counts (though nary a princess or duchess)

of soul are also part of the performing entourage here. Al Green, the king of Memphis soul and now a distinguished gospel singer, is scheduled to appear, as is today`s first family of gospel, the Winans. Little Richard, whose wop-bop- a-loo-bop banging paved the way for both modern R&B and rock, is on the bill. Two of Chicago`s finest classic soul vocal groups, the Chi-Lites (``Have You Seen Her,`` ``Oh Girl``) and the Dells (``Stay in My Corner,`` recently featured in the film ``The Five Heartbeats``) also perform. And there`s a touch of the blues, too, with Artie ``Blues Boy`` White (who just released a new Chicago-style blues album called ``The Bluesmaker/Dark End of the Street``) and soul-blues singer Johnny Taylor. The show takes place Saturday at Soldier Field.

Modern soul/dance music is the sound featured in the Club MTV tour, which comes to these parts later in the week. The first such tour in 1989 was greeted with a big yawn around here, but since then dance music has become, if anything, more popular and the new tour has been spiffed up with live bands

(instead of performers singing to prerecorded tapes), a set like that of the MTV show and the usual massive commercial sponsorship and TV hype.

Interestingly, the acts on this tour that seem to have the greatest potential staying power are those that borrow most heavily from their elders. Bell Biv DeVoe (featuring three members of New Edition) and Tony! Toni! Tone! do music partially rooted in classic soul. C&C Music Factory, the dance machine conglomerate run by producers Robert Clivilles and David Cole, would be doing Gregorian chants if it weren`t for the hot funk sound James Brown pioneered, while Color Me Badd (who just this week released a debut album)

scored a hit with a song from the ``New Jack City`` soundtrack called ``I Wanna Sex You Up`` that is ripped right out of the Marvin Gaye musical and thematic songbook. Also on the bill are Latin rap lover Gerardo and dance diva Tara Kemp. The Club MTV tour plays Poplar Creek Thursday.

Other shows of note

The Selecter, Friday at Cabaret Metro: This is probably the most manic of the Two-Tone bands, those wild and wooly ska-rockers that popped up in England about a decade ago. Selecter is best known for the tunes ``Too Much Pressure,`` ``On My Radio`` and a little ska spy-masterpiece called ``James Bond.`` Original frontwoman Pauline Black and chief songwriter Neol Davies are now joined by three new players.